A saga of DSS Oneshots
by KBerry
Summary: A series of one-shots for the Darren Shan Saga-hope you like it!


**So, I wrote this story ages ago, and it's just been sitting there on my computer, begging to be read. I meant to put it up at Christmas, but I wanted to put it with other christmas stories, and seeing as I didn't finish the others on time, I left it. But now I've decided to create a series of totally unrelated one-shots to try and get me out of the creative slump I have recently fallen into. If I get stuck on a story, I'll probably write a little one-shot and post it here. Right now I'm buy with birthday fics, but I'll probably put a little story here every so often! I hope you like it :)**

**(Bye the way, I'm not Debbie's biggest fan-I never got over her slapping Darren-but I really wanted to write this one-shot)**

**Please Review!**

* * *

Winter sunlight crept into Debbie Hemlock's bedroom, causing the decorations on the small tree beside her to sparkle and wink in the sunlight. The figure in the bed shifted, groaned softly, and opened her eyes. Debbie felt like she had been hit over the head with a cricket bat. Suddenly, she bolted upright. How had she got here? She didn't recall going to bed. Her eyes fell on the on the tree on her bedside table. She hadn't decorated it…had she? The last thing she remembered was sitting at the dinner table with her mum, dad, and…

"Darren!" Debbie flung herself out of bed and ripped back the curtains. Strong sunlight streamed into the room, and Debbie decided it must be early afternoon or late morning. A quick glance at her watch confirmed her suspicions. Debbie frowned. Why on Earth was she wearing a watch? She looked down at herself. Apparently she had gone to bed fully dressed. What was going on? She swung open the bedroom door, ran onto the landing and peered into her parent's room. They were in bed. Perfectly normal…but, Debbie noticed, in their evening best. She attempted to pull herself together and assess the situation.

_Okay, THINK._ She thought, frowning. _I have no memories of last night, I woke up in yesterday's clothes and my tree decorated itself. _She would have assumed that she'd gone crazy, except her parents were in their evening clothes too. It made no sense. After a few minutes of puzzling over the situation, she hit the answer. Darren was there last night too. Maybe he still was and knew what had happened! Debbie ran down the stairs and into the living room. No Darren. She searched the entire house. Still no Darren. After checking the living room for the third time she had to accept that he wasn't there. She trudged miserably back up to her room and slumped on the end of her bed with her head in her hands. He was gone. Something had happened to her and her mum and dad and he had just LEFT? Debbie felt anger momentarily flare up inside her, then dismissed it. She was being over dramatic. They must have stayed up late decorating the trees and gotten so tired that they couldn't be bothered to change. Darren went back to the hotel, and she couldn't remember because…

She sighed. In truth, she had no explanation. Besides, her tree was the only one with decorations on. She lifted her head and shifted towards it for a closer look. It was beautifully decorated, with twinkling figures and shining, multi-coloured baubles, with a golden star at the top. But Debbie knew she hadn't decorated it. She always chose an angel for the top of the tree, and that was still in its dusty little box, untouched. She smiled sadly and went over to the window, watching as snowflakes drifted down to the snow covered city. She knew Darren had decorated that tree. But she also knew that it was his way of saying goodbye. Although she hadn't solved the mystery of what happened the night before, at least she knew that Darren had thought of her before he left.

Nevertheless, when Donna and Jessie awoke a while later, it was to find Debbie sobbing on her bed, clutching an ornamental star. Every Christmas from then on, Debbie placed that star on top of her tree in pride of place, so it would always remind her of the boy in the pirate costume who had climbed three stories for a kiss…


End file.
